CalChamber is featuring three new 2019 laws in its latest version of Capitol News Report. The video provides details about expansion of sexual harassment prevention training requirements and the need to provide lactation accommodations in the workplace as well as providing information about a mandate requiring that women be placed on corporate boards. Sexual Harassment Training
In the video, CalChamber Executive Vice President and General Counsel Erika Frank discusses new sexual harassment prevention training requirements that will impact virtually every business in the state and all their employees and supervisors. Current law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide supervisors with two hours of sexual harassment prevention training. Under SB 1343, by January 1, 2020, all employers with five or more employees will be required to provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors and one hour to non-supervisorial employees and within six months of hire or promotion, and every two years after that. “Employers can satisfy this training in a number of ways,” Frank says. “They can offer live training or they can do computer-based training, which CalChamber offers.” Beginning January 1, 2020, temporary and seasonal employees will be required to be trained within 30 days of hire or 100 hours worked, whichever is earlier. Gender Representation on Boards of Directors The video also features information on a highly controversial law mandating female representation on corporate boards. Jennifer Barrera, CalChamber Senior Vice President of Policy, explains that publicly held corporations with principal executive offices in California will now be required to place at least one female director on its board by December 31, 2019. Depending on the board’s size, up to three female members may be required by the end of 2021. Significant financial penalties apply if a company fails to achieve the required number of female directors. When signing SB 826 (Chapter 954, Statutes of 2018) into law, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. acknowledged it could face significant legal challenges. “Some company who’s impacted by the law could file a legal claim suggesting that it’s unconstitutional for a company to retain a member on their board of directors solely based upon on their gender,” Barrera explains. “However, until that legal action happens, it is the law in California.” Lactation Accommodation Another new law requires all employers to provide lactation accommodations for employees. Before the new law, a bathroom was a permissible lactation accommodation space per California law. As of January 1, 2019, an employer must provide a reasonable lactation space other than a bathroom. The employer may be able to utilize a temporary space, so long as it meets the specifications of the new mandate. CalChamber Policy Advocate Laura Curtis explains that the requirement “is really going to impact employers with 50 or less employees because they haven’t previously had to provide a lactation accommodation space other than a toilet stall.” CalChamber worked diligently with the office of the author, Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Goleta), to try to develop the most workable approach. Full List of New Employment Laws An Overview of New 2019 Laws Affecting California Employers is now available for nonmembers to download (member download here). CalChamber members also have access to a full discussion of the new laws on HRCalifornia. Braveheart Brewing LLC is craft beer wholesale distributor and brand owner of their new line of central OR brewed beers that not only taste good but does good. Veteran owned and veteran brewed, Braveheart developed it’s brand in association with four national military – veteran nonprofit organizations. The brand line up consists of a POW-MIA Pilsner supporting the POW-MIA Families Foundation; a Frogman Imperial Red supporting the Seal Family Foundation, an Intrepid Hero IPA supporting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and a Semper Fi American Wheat Ale supporting the O3XX Foundation. Braveheart goal is to raise awareness of these wonderful organizations and support them with proceeds from the sales of the Braveheart line up. Braveheart introduced its line in Bend/Redmond OR this year and the reception was better than expected. They are currently in talks with OR distributors who see how important the message and support Braveheart is providing to its non-profit associates and want to be a part of what may be the beginning of a national brand that benefits non-profits organization 24/7 through the enjoyment of craft beer. Their goal for CA is to develop interest in their brand and find a quality wholesale distributor to partner with to facilitate Braveheart’s expansion. From CA Braveheart plans are to continue it’s expansion throughout the US. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently issued a Notice of Administrative Determination of Preemption finding, stating that the Federal Hazardous Material Transportation Law and the Hazardous Materials Regulations preempt California meal and rest break laws for all hazardous materials motor vehicle drivers. As California employers know, employees in California are entitled to a 30-minute off-duty meal break for shifts greater than five hours, and a second 30-minute meal break for shifts over 10 hours. In addition, employees are entitled to a 10-minute off-duty rest break for every four hours worked or major fraction thereof. The PHMSA concluded that California’s meal and rest break requirements conflict with the federal laws governing drivers transporting hazardous materials. The PHMSA made the following rulings:
Employers subject to the Federal Hazardous Material Transportation Law and the Hazardous Materials Regulations should monitor the status of this determination and any potential requests for judicial review, as well as consult legal counsel with questions about compliance. CalChamber members can view more information on California’s Meal and Rest Break Requirements in the HR Library. Not a member? See how CalChamber can help you. John Drew has been involved in international banking for over 40 years, with the last 26 years focused on foreign exchange and interest risk management, as well as advising on appropriate capital structure for multinational businesses. For much of the last 10-years, John has been out in the Western United States advising corporate and commercial businesses while working for HSBC Bank. In 2017 John spent the year back in his UK homeland advising businesses on their markets related risk management strategies and banking structures, before returning to the Western United States earlier this year to work with Umpqua Bank to support their deeper evolution into providing risk management services for their internationally facing clients. Please join us on December 13 at the Knowledge & Networking Lunch at Residence Inn, 2101 W. Vineyard Avenue. Check-in and networking begin at 11:30. Lunch is at noon with the program to follow. Advance reservations are required and are discounted for Chamber members if made by December 10. Message from the Chair - Stacy Miller Travel spending is at an all-time high, with continued projections for more growth in 2019. The City of Oxnard is outperforming our neighboring cities across the board in hotel statistics. Year to date, occupancy is up 5% over last year at a strong 80.5%. Last year, visitor spending reached $1.7 billion in Ventura County. The tourism industry supported over 16,000 jobs in Ventura County and generated over $132 million in local tax revenue. Oxnard’s average daily rate is up 5.7% over last year at an impressive $155.40; the highest in the County and our RevPAR (Revenue per available room) is up 10.5% over last year at $125.00. This number is truly amazing and again we are outshining our neighboring cities in all of these areas. Oxnard is definitely gaining visibility and market share so it’s a good thing that over the next couple years, we will be welcoming three new hotel properties to further promote tourism. The Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau, “Visit Oxnard” actively promotes our beautiful community in a variety of ways. They utilize the traditional methods of media releases, print advertising in many different meeting and leisure publications, a monthly e-newsletter covering all the must do activities while in Oxnard, as well as outdoor advertising--(Happy Holiday’s from Visit Oxnard will showcase on the 101 in a couple of weeks). Visit Oxnard has a robust social media presence with 12.5k followers on Instagram and over 30k followers on Facebook. The Visit Oxnard team also enjoys a strong presence at meeting and leisure tradeshows and conferences. The Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau recently completed a top-notch visitors’ magazine showcasing Oxnard hotels, restaurants, attractions, and our diverse and vibrant community, events and festivals. The guide is featured in 444 locations throughout California and Arizona as well as at over 100 businesses in Oxnard and every hotel room in our community. “The Visit Oxnard team is so fortunate to represent such a spirited community. We have everything to fulfill any desire of any type of vacationer. From our Historic Downtown, to our pristine beaches and Channel Islands Harbor, to shopping galore, and some of the best taquerias in the State! We apricate the ability to showcase our variety of businesses, our stunning hotel properties and the community that makes up Oxnard,” explains Julie Mino, President and CEO, Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau. If you would like a free copy of the new visitors magazine, you can download it via the Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau website at: VisitOxnard.com. You can also request a copy be mailed to you by calling the office at 805-385-7545 to request copies for your home or business. Kudos to the team at the Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau for helping to increase tourism to Oxnard! A message from our CEO - Nancy Lindholm NOTE: We ran this article in November 2018, but there are still many unaware so we wanted to republish. Business people are normally very busy operating their companies, not watching city council meetings to find out how much electricity is going to cost them next year. The city of Oxnard has joined the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), which is a community choice aggregation program. It basically means the city has opted to purchase electricity through the CPA versus investor-owned utilities (such as Southern California Edison). Although Edison will still be delivering power through its grid and billing customers, the power rates will be established by the CPA. In addition to joining the CPA, the Oxnard city council also opted to purchase 100% renewable sources of energy. This is the most expensive type of electricity. The higher rates will be applied to all Oxnard customers – residential and commercial – UNLESS THEY OPT OUT of the 100% renewable rate tier. The city council received a presentation on October 23 covering three different rate tiers to choose from – 36% renewable, 50% renewable, or 100% renewable. Although city staff recommended they select the 50% renewable tier, the council voted for the pricier 100% option. It is estimated the increase in rates will be 7% to 9% higher. Again, customers can OPT OUT of these higher rates. The CPA will be mailing two notifications to customers. If the customers do not respond, they will be paying the 100% renewable rate. Customers can not only OPT OUT of the higher tier rate, but they can OPT OUT of the entire CPA and stay with Edison. However, they must act or they are automatically in the program the city selected. The target implementation dates are February 1, 2019 for residential customers (who will also receive two notifications) and May 1, 2019 for nonresidential customers. So, watch your mail at home and at work to make sure you know what you will be paying for! One of the Chamber’s signature publications is its annual Business and Community Guide. Advertising sales are now open for the 2019 edition. As with past editions, the 2019 Guide will be distributed all over town. Most of the hotels in Oxnard make it available to their guests. With its eye-catching cover and beautiful photography, the Guide is something people hold onto and use as a buying reference. The Business and Community Guide is completely compiled and produced by the Chamber, so in addition to promoting members’ goods and services, it’s a great way to support the organization as well. Ad sales will be open until February 28. Prime advertising locations will go fast, so don’t delay. Contact the Chamber today to reserve your space. There are options to fit every budget. Wildfire Reminders: Employers Have Obligations and Must Take Precautions to Protect Employees11/13/2018
With a new series of wildfires flaring up this month, the California Chamber of Commerce presents below responses to questions often received from the employer community about how to help employees and a recent Cal/OSHA advisory on worker safety. Employers must remember some key obligations. Paying Employees Even in an emergency, employers must be mindful of obligations under state employment laws and consider pay issues for exempt and nonexempt employees related to office closures. Employers must pay exempt employees a full weekly salary for any week in which any work is performed. If the business is closed for the entire week, however, employers don’t need to pay exempt employees. In emergencies, special pay rules apply for nonexempt employees. If your business shuts down for any of the following reasons, you must pay nonexempt employees only for the hours they worked before being sent home:
However, if you shut down your business at your discretion (and not for one of the above reasons), reporting time pay may be owed. When a nonexempt employee shows up for work as scheduled and is not put to work or is given less than half of his/her scheduled hours, the employee would be eligible for reporting time pay: pay for one-half of the scheduled shift, but no less than two hours and no more than four hours. Of course, employers are always free to pay employees or let them use vacation or other personal time. Many employers may choose to provide some paid time during emergencies. Just remember to be consistent! Leave for Health Issues Employees may be entitled to time off to deal with health issues that occur as a result of the disaster. For instance, employees may use their California mandatory paid sick leave for the care or treatment of a health condition for themselves or a family member, as defined by the law. They also may be eligible for time off for family or medical leave for themselves or to care for family members with any serious health conditions under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The FMLA and the CFRA cover employers with 50 or more employees and provide a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period. Employers may have obligations to reasonably accommodate an employee under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the state Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Should an employee suffer a physical or mental injury because of a natural disaster, he/she may be entitled to protections under these laws. In some situations, State Disability Insurance (SDI) partial wage replacement benefits may be available for individuals injured by the disaster (nonwork-related injury). Similarly, Paid Family Leave (PFL) partial wage replacement benefits may be available for workers who take time off to care for a covered family member injured in the disaster. The Employment Development Department can provide support services for employers and employees with these determinations. School or Child Care Leave Employers with 25 or more employees working at the same location may need to provide unpaid time off to employees whose children’s school or child care closed due to a natural disaster, such as a fire, earthquake or flood. For emergencies, the time must not exceed 40 hours per year. Cal/OSHA AdvisoryCal/OSHA issued an advisory on Friday reminding employers that special precautions must be taken to protect workers from hazards from wildfire smoke. When employees are working outdoors where the air is affected by wildfire smoke, employers are required by Cal/OSHA’s standards on Control of Harmful Exposure to Employees and Respiratory Protection to determine if the outdoor air is a “harmful exposure” to employees. Exposure is harmful when the pollution or contaminants in the air cause (or are likely to cause) injury, illness, disease, impairment or loss of function. Local air quality districts provide information on outdoor air that can assist employers in determining if the outside air is harmful to employees. Employers should pay special attention when the outdoor air quality for airborne particles is “unhealthy,” “very unhealthy,” or “hazardous.” The outdoor air quality is posted at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website, airnow.gov. When exposure to wildfire smoke is considered harmful, employers are required to take the following measures to protect workers:
More Information CalChamber members can find more information on Emergency Action Plans and Fire Prevention Plans on HRCalifornia. Cal/OSHA offers resources as well. Not a member? See how CalChamber can help you. OXNARD LOOKING TO INCREASE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS WITH INTERNET SURVEY, FIBER MASTER PLAN11/6/2018
A message from our Chair - Stacy Miller In an effort to ensure that current and future Oxnard-based businesses have the high-speed Internet services and connectivity they need, the City of Oxnard has released a Broadband Internet business survey and embarked on the development of a new Fiber Master Plan. The survey includes questions related to current connections, current Internet speed, costs for services and how well current broadband meets the business consumers’ needs at this time. The deadline for completing the survey is November 16, 2018. All businesses that complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 Amazon gift card. The Broadband Internet survey is available online via the City’s website at: https://www.oxnard.org/fiber. In this day and age, access to reliable Broadband Internet services is a vital part of a city’s infrastructure—equally as important as streets, water, parks and sewers. Furthermore, Broadband connectivity enhances a City’s economic development potential by helping attract new, advanced businesses, as well as providing necessary Internet connectivity and services for existing businesses. While other Broadband technologies exist using copper and wireless, the use of fiber is much more future-proof. Internet speed demand is estimated to reach gigabit speeds by 2020. The next wave of technologies, especially artificial intelligence, demands increasingly robust connections from both home and office. Fiber technology is critical to the future of the smart home and the Smart City, since many of today’s most connected cities determined that laying fiber is the foundation upon which many of tomorrow’s most connected services will be built. Currently in the City of Oxnard, there is an existing network backbone that spans 38.45 miles of underground conduit with fiber running through about 31.81 miles of that conduit. Additionally, the City maintains 38 fixed wireless links between traffic signal locations. There is an additional 6.64 miles of conduit and fiber optic cable designed and planned for the expansion of the traffic signal network and other systems. We applaud the City of Oxnard for capitalizing on this unique opportunity to leverage its existing fiber network by expanding from a closed, private network supporting limited City buildings and systems, to a more open network platform that can be utilized for public, economic and social benefit. “Becoming a ‘Fiber City’ will help attract investment and support new business growth by providing access to robust, high-speed Internet and data networks,” said Kevin Pisacich, Oxnard’s IT Manager of Communications and Security Systems. “Gigabit fiber becomes almost like a renewable natural resource that benefits everyone for years to come. My vision for this network is that it will be the foundational infrastructure investment for the City that will provide high speed Internet services for businesses and residents as well as countless modern Smart City initiatives” said Keith Brooks, Information Technology Director for the City of Oxnard. We couldn’t agree more! The City has selected Magellan Advisors as its partner in developing its new Fiber Master Plan. The new master plan will pave the way to guide the design, construction, implementation, maintenance, management, regulation, operation and funding of the City’s fiber-optic assets and related technologies. To learn more about the project and complete the survey, visit the City’s website at https://www.oxnard.org/fiber. Remember, the City needs Oxnard-based businesses immediate input in completing the Internet survey by November 16th. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2019. The IRS issued technical guidance detailing these items in Notice 2018-83. Highlights of Changes for 2019 The contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased from $18,500 to $19,000. The limit on annual contributions to an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA), which last increased in 2013, is increased from $5,500 to $6,000. The additional catch-up contribution limit for individuals aged 50 and over is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $1,000. The income ranges for determining eligibility to make deductible contributions to traditional IRAs, to contribute to Roth IRAs and to claim the saver’s credit all increased for 2019. Taxpayers can deduct contributions to a traditional IRA if they meet certain conditions. If during the year either the taxpayer or his/her spouse was covered by a retirement plan at work, the deduction may be reduced, or phased out, until it is eliminated, depending on filing status and income. (If neither the taxpayer nor his/her spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, the phase-outs of the deduction do not apply.) Here are the phase-out ranges for 2019:
The income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is $122,000 to $137,000 for singles and heads of household, up from $120,000 to $135,000. For married couples filing jointly, the income phase-out range is $193,000 to $203,000, up from $189,000 to $199,000. The phase-out range for a married individual filing a separate return who makes contributions to a Roth IRA is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0 to $10,000. The income limit for the Saver’s Credit (also known as the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit) for low- and moderate-income workers is $64,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $63,000; $48,000 for heads of household, up from $47,250; and $32,000 for singles and married individuals filing separately, up from $31,500. Highlights of Limitations that Remain Unchanged from 2018 The catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and over who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan remains unchanged at $6,000. For more information, visit the IRS website. |